Midnight Blue Eyes
by Lexie and Ally
Summary: Neo frees a special girl from the Matrix, one who can change everything.


AN: I hope you enjoy this! Please review and let me know what you think!  
  
Disclaimer: The Wachowski Bros own the characters you recognize!  
  
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A pair of impossibly large midnight-blue eyes stared unblinkingly out of the window. The bus had been late, but Ariella Kirby Jade Johnson didn't care. Nothing mattered to her, except this. That afternoon she had recieved a strange phonecall from someone who called himself Neo. //He had such a sexy voice// she thought as she remembered the husky voice telling her what to do. Which was why she was on a bus in the pouring rain to downtown Ankara. It wasn't safe, she knew that, but she was willing to take the risk. Besides, her parents wouldn't even realise she was gone. Her daddy was president of the Turkish main bank, and her mama had died six years before. The bus stopped, and she stepped out into the pounding rain.   
  
She was at a club. The beat throbbed through her body, and she felt like dancing. She liked to dance. Her mama had danced lots too, but now she was gone. It always made her depressed to think of that tragedy. Pushing those thoughts aside, she moved into the club. No one questioned her, even though she was underaged. She had always had this ability to remain unseen if she so chose. She stuck to the wall in the club, watching the hypnotic movements of the dancers in the strobe lights. She reached up to tuck her spun-gold hair behind her ear as she scanned the crowd.   
  
She spotted a man by the fire exit, dressed all in black and wearing shades. Somehow, she knew that was her mysterious phonecaller, Neo. And he was as hot as the voice had suggested. She could feel his eyes on her as she approached him, and without realising it her hips began to sway with the beat of the music. She could feel his eyes on her, felt them smouldering, and smiled seductively. He beckoned her over, and she obeyed unquestioningly, shaking her shimmering fringe from her cosmic-blue eyes. Neo leaned forward, bending so that his mouth was right against her ear. She shivered as his breath ghosted over her ear.   
  
"Do you want to find out the truth?" he whispered. She nodded, gazing up at him with unblinking eyes. He smiled at her, one hand moving to cup her face. In the blink of an eye he spun around, black coat trailing after him. She ran after him, but even though he was walking and she was running she couldn't seem to catch up. Eventually they came to a phonebox on a street corner. It looked out of order, and she was about to call out to Neo, when he held out the phone to her.   
  
"Do you want to find out the truth?" he asked again. This time Ariella paused. She had always felt that there was something wrong with the world around her, like everyone and everything just didn't sit right. She only felt comfortable with her cousins Divinity and B'randii, but they lived in different countries. She would miss them, she knew, but there was nothing for her in this life. "Trust me," Neo said at her doubting look, and she did. Wholly and completely. Gazing into his eyes, covered as they were by shades, she held the phone to her ear and felt herself disappearing.   
  
The next thing Ariella saw was a large expanse of metal ceiling, covered in wires. Her skin felt tingly. //I wonder where I am?// she thought.   
  
"You're awake," a hoarse but familiar voice said softly. Her large blue eyes swivelled around to fix on Neo's face. It looked paler and thinner than she remembered, but he was still drop-dead gorgeous. She conjured up a shy smile for him.   
  
"Wha-" her voice was croaky, and she found she couldn't finish what she wanted to ask. Neo seemed to understand anyway.   
  
"There were some complications - we nearly lost you," he explained, and his voice was suspiciously thick. She moved her hand to lay over his, and was shocked to see needles protruding from her flesh. Neo followed her horrified gaze and winced. "Let me help you with those," he said softly, and his fingers moved like butterflies against her skin as he removed the needles delicately. Their eyes met, and he began to lean towards her, drawn almost hypnotically in. Suddenly there were loud footsteps outside the door, which was suddenly flung open. A black man with a bald head that Ariella had never seen before entered.   
  
"Is this she?" he asked Neo. Neo nodded. The man approached them. "I'm so glad you're alright Mermaid," he murmured in awe. Ariella's eyes widened more than normal. She wasn't used to hearing her online alias out loud.   
  
"How did you-?" The man interrupted her abruptly.   
  
"Neo, it's Trinity," he said urgently. Neo clambered to his feet.   
  
"What about her, Morpheus?" he asked. Ariella started; she had heard of Morpheus, the infamous terrorist, and had wondered about him. She had never in her wildest dreams thought that she would meet him. She had also heard of Trinity, but Ariella knew she was better than her. Trinity had only hacked the IRS database - Ariella had broken into the CIA, the Pentagon and the Berlin Bank, all of which had really tough firewalls and protections to break through.   
  
Neo and Morpheus fled the room, and she could hear their footsteps pounding on the metal floor. Ariella sat up, and a wave of dizziness overcame her. Despite this, she struggled on, wavering unsteadily on her feet as she stumbled towards the door. She had to lean against the cold metal walls as she staggered out of the room, the effort exhausting her body and mind almost to the point of passing out. Still Ariella mustered up enough energy to drag herself up a small ladder. She found herself in a large room, with chairs and computer screens all over it. There was another man in the centre, with dark skin and dreadlocks. He was typing frantically on a couple of strange looking keyboards simultaneously. Morpheus and Neo were bent over a chair nearby, and she moved quietly towards them, using her ability to avoid detection in order to see what was going on.   
  
There was a woman layed in the chair, pale-skinned and with short dark hair. Ariella could see her eyes moving as if she was dreaming, and there was a long spike sticking out of the back of her head.   
  
"Trinity, don't you quit on me," Morpheus growled as he injected a liquid into a plug on her arm. Neo stared mournfully at the screens by her head. They were beeping erratically, and then suddenly went dead. Morpheus stared at them disbelievingly, while Neo pulled the spike from Trinity's head. "No..." Morpheus whispered. Neo looked up, and Ariella could see he had tears in his eyes. Morpheus, too, looked extremely upset. He carefully picked Trinity up, and left the room with her in his arms. Link followed him out, leaving just Neo and Ariella.   
  
Neo collapsed in the chair that Trinity had been in, and tears streaked down his pale cheeks. Ariella approached him slowly, her footsteps quiet on the floor. She placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, and was shocked when a sob broke free of his shaking body.   
  
"She's gone," he whimpered. Ariella's heart ached for him. She knew what it felt like to lose someone close, and wanted to comfort Neo the way her daddy hadn't comforted her. He had withdrawn into himself, giving her whatever she wished for except that which she needed most: love. Even though she was still weary with exertion, she knelt down in front of him and pulled him into her embrace. Hot tears soaked her tatty shirt but she didn't mind.   
  
"Ssh," she comforted him, rocking back and forth motherly. Eventually his sobs quietened and his tears dried up, and he pulled away. She smiled tiredly at him. "Better?" she asked. He nodded, wiping at his face with the sleeve of his shirt in a childish manner. She had to smile at that. He stood up, and offered her his hand. She took it gratefully, swaying dangerously as a wave of dizziness struck her. The last thing she saw as she fell towards the ground was Neo's panicked face. Then all was dark.   
  
Ariella groaned as she woke - her head felt like a drum. //This is getting really old, really fast// she thought miserably. She rolled over, her entire body throbbing painfully, but stopped when she saw Neo sat on the floor, his head leaning against the wall and his eyes closed in sleep. He looked so adorable, yet so hot at the same time. Ariella stilled herself, ignoring her body's protests, just to watch him sleep. Slowly he woke, his neck cracking loudly as he lifted his head. Gorgeous brown eyes blinked blearily at her. Slowly he shuffled over to her, not even bothering to pick himself off the floor.   
  
"How are you feeling, Mermaid?" he asked her in concern, his eyes scanning her face for any sign of discomfort. He was so close to her, all she had to do was reach out and touch him. She did so, and then stilled, staring at her arm in horror. There was a gaping hole in her forearm, filled with metal plug like Trinity had had. She put her other hand over it, to see if it was real, and felt the cold metal dig into her fingers. Neo covered her hand with his own, moving closer to her. "It's a plug," he stated quietly. Her sparkling blue eyes filled with tears as she looked from their touching hands to his handsome face.   
  
"Hold me," she whispered brokenly, so utterly depressed as she realised that everything she knew had been ripped away from her. She was marked by the prison she had been in, and with the epiphany she noticed for the first time that he long golden locks were gone. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and Neo wiped them away gently as he laid down beside her, spooning against her back and wrapping her comfortably in his arms. She ran her fingers over them distractedly, but jolted when she felt similar plugs on his arms. Nervously, her hand rose, and she reached behind her head. She could feel Neo watching her as she slid her fingertips over her bald skull and found another plug, huge and imposing. Neo's hand covered hers again and guided it away from that plug. Ariella turned in his arms, looking up at his sorrowful face with wide unblinking eyes. "Is it good here?" she asked uncertainly. He smiled slightly, and placed a light kiss on the end of her nose.   
  
"It's hard sometimes, but worth it," he answered honestly. She smiled tremulously, and buried her head under his chin. He breathed in deeply, picking up traces of jasmine, and traced random patterns on the soft skin of her arms. He smiled as her breathing deepened in sleep, placed a tender kiss to her head and settled back to watch her sleep.   
  
Morpheus found them asleep in each others' arms when he opened the door. He smiled at the sweet sight, but he couldn't afford to wait. Agent Smith was causing havoc in the Matrix, and he needed to be stopped. Neo was the only one who could do it, and Morpheus figured it would be a good opportunity for Mermaid to reenter the Matrix. He gently shook Neo's shoulder. Neo rubbed the sleep from his eyes, smiling lovingly at Ariella's beautiful face before looking up at Morpheus.   
  
"What's the matter?" he queried at Morpheus' tense look. He was given a pained glance.   
  
"Agent Smith," Morpheus. Neo bit his lip to keep from cursing, instead gently extracting his arm from beneath Ariella's head.   
  
"Where?" he asked as he pulled on his boots. Morpheus led him up to the Core, answering,   
  
"Edmonton, Canada." Link looked up from his station with a worried expression.   
  
"It's mayhem in there sir," he said. Morpheus nodded and looked to Neo, who sat in the nearest chair. Morpheus moved around and plugged him in before moving to his own chair. Link plugged Morpheus in. They rang him from the Construct. "Operator."   
  
"No more than the usual, Link," Morpheus instructed. With a few quick instructions, Neo and Morpheus were both sent spiralling into the Matrix.   
  
Almost immediately, Neo had to use his special abilities to fly out of the way of a hail of bullets, taking Morpheus out of the path of danger. Neo spun around to face Agent Smith, only to find there were at least a hundred Agent Smith's, all with their now empty guns pointing to where he had been seconds before.   
  
"Hello, Mr. Anderson," they said in unison, and Neo felt dread pooling in his stomach.   
  
Ariella woke alone. It made her feel anxious, but she figured Neo had gone to get something to eat. Still, she hurried to get out of bed, flying up the ladder to get to the Core. There she saw what she had dreaded, Morpheus and Neo jacked into the Matrix. Worse, they were both shaking with spams in their chairs as if they were being pummelled repeatedly. She dashed over to Link.   
  
"What's going on?" she cried, her eyes scanning the streaming green code on the screens. It flashed periodically.   
  
"Agent Smiths. Lots of them. He...They're attacking Neo and Morpheus," Link said. He looked at her sadly. "There's nothing we can do, Mermaid." She stared angrily at the screen, before spinning on her heel and marching towards the chair.   
  
"Plug me in!" she ordered, throwing herself into the chair. Link just stared at her, mouth agog.   
  
"What?" he asked dumbly. She glared at him.   
  
"Do it!" He looked from her, to the screen, to Morpheus and Neo. Then he moved, quickly plugging her in, restraining her body as it arched reflexively. Then he went back to his station, alone now except for the frantic beeping of Neo and Morpheus' health monitors.   
  
Ariella studied herself in awe when she emerged in a white room, the Construct. She was dressed all in black, from her attractive high-heeled boots to her sexy tights and leather mini-skirt, tight halter top and small leather jacket. She had shades on, and a belly chain, and her luscious gold locks were tied back tightly with a leather thong. She knew she looked stunningly intimidating, and she liked the power it made her feel. There was a gun attached to her hip and she found a cell phone in her pocket. She picked it up and dialled Link. "I'm in," she murmured. She could hear his fingers rattling on the keyboard.   
  
"Any requests?" he asked. She considered this for a moment.   
  
"Combat training, as much as possible as quickly as possible," she said. He murmured his approval, and suddenly she felt a rush of knowledge flood through her brain. She smirked with new confidence. Agent Smith was going down. "Here we go," Link muttered, and suddenly Ariella felt herself being sucked backwards.   
  
The sexy, confident Mermaid appeared on a street that was cluttered with debris. She listened carefully and could hear a fist-on-flesh fight, so she made her way towards it. The chunks of broken brick and glass got larger as she drew nearer, until she rounded a corner and saw a hundred or more Smiths. Morpheus was flat out on the ground, bleeding, but she sensed he wasn't dead yet. Neo was tackling the Smiths fiercely, and a circle of bodies surrounded him, but they were slowly overpowering him. She stepped into the middle of the street, hands on her hips, and whistled at the Agents to draw their attention. It was a good thing too, because they had just begun to wear Neo down. He fell to his knees, bleeding profusely and unable to even cry out as the Agents abandoned him and began to circle Mermaid. She looked unfazed.   
  
"Come and get it, boys," she taunted with a seductive smile, settling easy into a fighting stance. They attacked her three at a time, but she blocked them easily, countering their punches with the ease of someone who had been doing martial arts since childhood even though she had only just learnt.   
  
"Miss Johnson," some said as others continued to throw punches at her, "we will defeat you, and then we will defeat Mr. Anderson. Then we will copy ourselves over Morpheus and Zion will fall. You cannot stop us, there is no possible way to halt us, we shall beat you-"   
  
"Shut up!" she growled, her anger growing beyond her control. She flipped onto her hands and spun, legs outstretched, knocking over thirty or more Smiths. They veered away from her for enough time for her to channel her anger and use it to bend the Matrix. Frowning, beads of sweat forming on her with the concentration, the Earth began to shake to her will. The Smiths fell to the ground, which suddenly cracked and split open. They tumbled into the gaping hoop that had been created around her. As soon as the last Smith had disappeared from sight, the continous crack sealed itself and the Earth ceased to tremble.   
  
Mermaid opened her eyes and surveyed the extra damage she had caused. Every glass window in the street had shattered and showered shards all over the road. Many of the buildings were showing stress lines from subsidence. But the Smiths were gone, and she smiled proudly at that.   
  
"Mermaid," Neo said. He was stood up now, as was Morpheus, though their Captain looked the worse for wear while Neo had managed to heal his digital self completely. "That was amazing," he said in awe. She smiled at him widely, but when his eyes roamed over her hot body her smile turned into a leer. She winked at him.   
  
"Maybe later we could..." she trailed off, smirking suggestively. Neo returned her smile, before returning to business.   
  
"We need to get Morpheus out," he stated. Mermaid nodded and led the way to a nearby phonebox, ringing Link on her mobile.   
  
"Exit," she told him.   
  
"Done," he answered. They held the phone to Morpheus' ear first, and watched him disappear. Then they stood, listening to the phone ringing, looking deep into each others' eyes, deep brown and midnight blue. Slowly Neo bent down, and pressed his lips against Mermaid's. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, relishing the feel of his hands on her hips, playing with her belly chain. It made her skin flush and tingle in pleasant ways. Eventually they had to break apart for breath, and he held the phone out to her.   
  
"See you on the other side," he said, and with a final kiss she held the phone to her ear and vanished from the Matrix.   
  
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Wow. I hope you enjoyed that. And I hope you review and let me know what you thought about this! Thank you so much for reading! M.Z.O 


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